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May 30, 2012 Web Exclusive By Jim Scott

It’s been five years since El-P released his last full-length, the impressive I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead. Most of the time, a long wait produces an album that sounds gone over so many times that all sense of surprise has been removed. Cancer for Cure stuns by featuring some of the most energetic tracks El-P has ever put his name to. From the ferocious opener “Request Denied” to the insane “Drones Over BKLYN,” El-P’s switched gears from his early, spaced-out soundtracks to in-your-face aggression.

Not that El-P has changed his stripes entirely. “Oh Hail No” begins with an introduction that wouldn’t be out of place in a Stanley Kubrick movie, but then the song builds and explodes. Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire and Danny Brown contribute phenomenal verses, the latter an especially welcome change of pace to El-P’s angular rhythms. (www.myspace.com/elproducto)

Author rating: 7/10